Improvement in refining iron



J. P. ALLEN. I REFINING IRON, REDUCING ORES, &c.

No. 112,003. Patented'f'eb. 21, 1871.

- v [72 Vania:

UNITED STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN FI 0F TBEMONT, new YORK.

IMPROVEMENT l N "REF-{ ING IRON," REDUCING ones, etc.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. ll2t003, dated February 21, 1871.

'To all whom it. may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN F. ALLEN, of

Tremont, in the county of- Westchester andthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being bad, to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side view,.partly in section, of an apparatus by means of which my invention is carried into practical effect. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. My invention has for its object to improve and extend the process described in Letters Patent No. 76,581, issued to me April 14, 1868, so as to make it'more effective in operation and more extended in scope, enabling it to be applied to the reduction of ores; and it consists in passing the molten iron in the form of a shower or spray through pulverized alkaline earths or oxides of iron, whether with or withoutthe addition of pulverized char or anthracite coal, as hereinafter more fully described.

A is a cylinder lined withfire-brick or other suitable material, and revolved or rocked upon its axis and supported by wheels or rollers B, placed beneath it, or by hearings in which its hollow journals revolve. The interior surface of the cylinder A has cavities or corrugations formed upon it, as shown.

In carrying my invention into practical effeet a quantity of molten carburet of iron or cast-iron is introduced into the cylinder'A, tnd while the machine isin motion pulverized alkaline earths or oxides of iron are thrown uponnthe surface of the mass of molten iron in the lower part of the cylinder A. As the cylinder is revolved the molten metal will be carried up by and with the ascending side of said cylinder, and will fall down in a shower or spray upon and through thepulverized material fioating .upon the mass of molten metal,

and through the gases in the upper part of said cylinder developed from the said mate metal, thus causing a thorough intermingling of the molten metal and'the pulverized material witheach other.

When it is desired to produce malleable iron or semi-steel for the rolls, enough molten metal is run into the machineto fill the cylinder A part way to the centralopeuing. The machine is set in motion, and one of the end openings is connected with the chimney or other-draft-flue for the purpose of conducting away the waste gases. Through the other end opening pulverized earths or oxides of iron are introduced to float upon the surface of the molten iron. As'the molten metal and'the pulverized material become intermingled in the manner hereinbefore described, the oxygen of the material is liberated, combines with the' carbon of the molten iron, and is carried off in the-form of carbonic-acid gas, leaving the iron of the oxide and the molten iron in a malleable state by the combustion of the carbon from the said molten iron.-

When the reduction of ores into carbu-ret of iron, cast-steeh'or high steel is desired,'the cylinder Ais filled with molten metal nearly to its central openings, and as it is revolved,

or rocked pulverized peroxide of iron mixed with pulverized carbousuch as charcoal'or anthracite coal-'-is introduced upon the surface of the molten metal, and as the'opera-tiou is continued, and as the shower or sprayof molten metal falls upon and becomes intermingled with the pulverized materials, the oxygenfrom the ore reacts upon the carbon, causing a most vivid' combustion, by which the temperature of the molten metal is main-v tained, and as the quantity is increased the metal is allowed, after the slag'which floats upon its surface has been removed, to flow ofi at the end of the machine into suitable. molds.

In this way the reduction of theore may be made continuous, the quantity of fuel requiredwill be much less than when the ore is re duced in a cupola-furnace, and at the same or anthracite coal, substantially as herein time a superior quality of metal will be proshown and described, and for the purpose set duced. forth.

Having thus described myinventionflclaim The above specification of my invention. as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent signed by me this 16th day of September, 1869.

Passing molten metal in the form of ashower JOHN F. ALLEN. or spray through pulverized alkaline earths or Witnesses: oxides of iron, either with or without the ad- GEO. W. MABEE, A mixture of pulverized carbon, such as charcoal JAMES T. GRAHAM. 

